Alabama GOP will host presidential candidate forum Monday night

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Alabama Republican Party will host a televised forum for presidential candidates Monday night, according to the Washington political website Politico. Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have confirmed they will attend, Politico said. There was no immediate word if front-runner Mitt Romney would also appear.

Alabama GOP executive director T.J. Maloney told Politico this is not a debate. The plan "isn't to grill the candidates or to force them to engage each other. But it promises to give plenty of free-media coverage to the participants," Politico said.

Bill Armistead, chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, announced a press conference today at 3:30 p.m., presumably to announce the event. There is no immediate word on where and at what time it will occur.

Both Alabama and Mississippi hold GOP presidential primaries Tuesday. There are 90 convention delegates between them, and neither primary is a winner-take-all.